Krystyna Jolanta Janda (born 18 December 1952) is a Polish film and theater actress best known internationally for playing leading roles in several films by Polish directorAndrzej Wajda, including Man of Marble (Człowiek z marmuru, 1976) and Man of Iron (Człowiek z żelaza, 1981).
She made her film debut in 1973, when she starred in the historical-based TV seriesCzarne chmury ("Black Clouds"), but a turning point in her acting career came with the role of Agnieszka in Andrzej Wajda's Man of Marble (1976).[5] She became known for portraying strong and determined female characters with complex personalities in her film roles. Apart from Man of Marble, her most memorable roles include characters in critically acclaimed films like Man of Iron, Interrogation and My Mom's Lovers.[6]
In the 1980s she appeared in numerous films and stage productions and started working as a film and theatre director herself. In 1995 she directed the film Pestka based on a novel by Anka Kowalska. During her professional career she has played over 60 theatre roles in virtually all the major theatre genres as well as appeared in around 100 films. Her role in Euripides's Medea is considered among her most successful ones. She is particularly known for her artistic collaboration with renowned Academy Award-winning filmmakerAndrzej Wajda. She starred in six of his films altogether: Man of Marble (1976), Man of Iron (1981), Without Anesthesia (1978), The Orchestra Conductor (1980), Solidarity, Solidarity... Man of Hope (2005), and Sweet Rush (2009).
In 2005, she established her own private Polonia Theater in Warsaw.[11] She is also the founder and head of the Krystyna Janda Cultural Foundation. In 2010, her foundation opened another theatre in Warsaw, the Och-Teatr in the district of Ochota.[12] She has also worked as a columnist in a number of magazines such as Poradnik domowy, Pani, and Uroda. She is also a member of the supervisory board of the Fundacja Okularnicy, which is a foundation dedicated to the promotion and popularization of Agnieszka Osiecka's poetic legacy.
On December 30, 2020, after she reported on social media that she was vaccinated out of turn against COVID-19 at the Medical University of Warsaw, she became the central figure of the so-called vaccine scandal (in Polish: afera szczepionkowa).[15][16][17]
In 2022 she took part in pan-European depression awareness raising campaign.[18]
Personal life
In the years 1974–1979 she was married to fellow actor Andrzej Seweryn. In 1981, she again married Edward Kłosiński, who died on 5 January 2008. She has three children: daughter Maria Seweryn and two sons Adam and Jędrzej Kłosiński. She is Lutheran. Janda currently lives in Milanówek near Warsaw.